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During the protests against the so-called “March for Life” in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the participants were arrested in the afternoon. The police continued to push back the counter-protesters.
The anti-abortion rally started shortly after 1 pm The square in front of the Brandenburg Gate was well packed. Long lines formed at the entrances, and the mask requirement was largely observed due to the corona pandemic and distance maintenance. The demonstration finally started shortly after 2:00 pm in the direction of Strasse des 17. Juni.
Anti-abortion opponents expected more participants – 5,000 people registered, according to organizers, 3,000 turned out – according to the police there were only a few hundred. AfD politician Beatrix von Storch was among the participants, as photos show.
The anti-Semitic and relativizing symbols of the Shoah could also be seen in the place among the anti-abortionists. One participant wore a T-shirt with an embryo represented in a sign similar to the Star of David. The Center for Research and Information on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) also criticized via Twitter that in this year’s event again on the official posters of the organizers with Nazi terms such as “unworthy life” and the slogan “Never again” abortions with the murder of people in the NS would be equated.
Across the Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz, an alliance for sexual self-determination demonstrated the right to abortion. Hearing and seeing the opponents of abortion, the counter-protesters shouted: “My body, my choice, raise your voice.” Several hundred people turned out for the alliance rally at noon. Due to the corona pandemic, the organizers have decided not to register a rally.
The Bundesverband Lebensrecht had called for the protection of human life from conception to natural death. Each week should be one week for life; this would avoid many conflicts and murders. The president of the German Episcopal Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, supports “the unwavering commitment to the protection of life,” according to a statement from the association. The corona pandemic clearly shows how vulnerable and in need of protection people are.
On the part of the counter-protesters, it was said that “alliances between right-wing populist actors, Christian fundamentalists and conservatives” had given new impetus to the so-called life protection movement, at the expense of women and queer people. They fought for their rights to self-determination and the right to abortion.
The Berlin police are not only supported by the federal police in Saturday’s demonstrations, but apparently also by a unit from Baden-Württemberg. The anti-abortion demonstration went smoothly into the afternoon, despite numerous counter-demonstrations along the way.
The first minor clashes between the police and the counter-protesters took place in Friedrichstrasse. The police hadn’t blocked the back streets here, unlike Pariser Platz; so the counter-protesters got very close to the anti-abortionists.
Occasional counter-protesters were also pushed aside by the police on the Berlin Mall. This provoked a verbal exchange of blows with the anti-abortion opponents: to “Your children will be like us” the answer “At least we have children” comes from the ranks of the demonstration. In the early afternoon, police said that both groups were behaving peacefully. The riots were unknown in the afternoon.
Traffic obstruction through various demos
In the city center of Berlin, the demonstrations cause delays and traffic jams, especially this Saturday. In addition to opponents of abortion and women’s rights activists, bicycle activists and an alliance of left-wing groups take to the streets. Berlin drivers should better avoid the city center.
With a bicycle demonstration, around 1,000 people set the example of more emerging bike lanes in the capital. The approximately 37 kilometer circular journey around the city center took cyclists from Potsdamer Platz through Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Wedding, Charlottenburg and back to Potsdamer Platz.
Police spoke of 700 participants shortly after 3pm, but more and more were arriving on the road. The General German Bicycle Club Berlin had invited the tour and had also invited families with children.
For World Children’s Day on September 20, the bicycle club called for “a city where children can also move safely and independently by bicycle.” In the Corona crisis, many people switched to bicycles. In July alone, Berlin had more than 2.3 million cyclists.
Human chain to protect yourself from cars.
Greenpeace activists in Berlin announced on Saturday that they would create a safe bike lane on a busy street in the center of the capital, where life would otherwise be in danger. In one lane of the two-lane Chausseestrasse (between Invalidenstrasse and Torstrasse), “adults and children on bicycles would be protected from car traffic with a human chain,” he said in a message.
The space in the streets must be redistributed in favor of cycling, explained Detlef Müller, mobility manager of the Berlin Greenpeace group. “Only the expansion of structurally separate bike lanes allows safe cycling for people of all ages.”
The Berlin administrative court had declared the so-called emerging cycle lanes illegal in early September. However, the decision is not final yet, the Senate Department of Transport has lodged an appeal against it with the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg.
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In the afternoon (6:00 pm), radical initiatives from the left and the left of an action alliance “He who has, gives”, will stop the Ku’damm. 2000 participants are registered in the capital, ranging from Adenauerplatz via Ku’damm to Wittenbergplatz.
In addition, many people are also expected on the streets of the capital on Sunday. The “Seebrücke” alliance calls a large demonstration at 2 pm at Wittenbergplatz in City-West. The lift route goes through Kurfürstendamm, Kantstrasse and Kurfürstenstrasse to Großer Stern. The initiative wants to demonstrate under the slogan “We have space” for the immediate admission of refugees from the burned camp of Moria in Lesbos.
The 3,000 participants registered with the police could be exceeded: on Facebook alone, more than 5,000 people have expressed their interest in the event. (with dpa)
